White Magic
The real beauty sleep: L’Occitane helps you gleam and glow — let your power shine. By Jolin Kwok.
Snow White — my first role in kindergarten, my debut in acting. It’s likely by no coincidence that I was chosen less for my acting chops and more for my ridiculously fair skin with an English rose tint, which stood out starkly in my Primary Six class photo, in a tonal sea of olives and coppers.
But envy me not. It’s true when they say what’s given to us is easily taken for granted. I was one of those who inconsistently heeded to their mums’ and the media’s insistence that we worship the Sunblock, and freckles began to spread over my face like the plague — stoppable only by divine intervention … or timely prevention.
Luckily there’s a cure. One that’s far less costly and more relaxing than laser therapy, which lets you take full advantage of your nightly rest. All while moisturising and brightening your skin. Truly, it’s beauty sleep redefined.
Sleeping Beauty
Some time in January, L’Occitane whisked members of the media away from everyday stressors into the calming greens and soothing hot springs of the Banjaran Hotsprings Retreat. Completing the Reine Blanche Whitening Skincare range that was introduced last year, it revealed its latest treasures: Whitening Sleeping Mask and Illuminating Eye Care & Mask. While the entire collection summons the power of Reine des Prés for its incredible lightening and exfoliating qualities, the Whitening Sleeping Mask in particular takes a step further with the Scutellarie Baicalensis flower extract — to counter daily aggressors like pollution — while the Illuminating Eye Care & Mask has a caffeine boost — to depuff and refresh.
My only concern? “No, you won’t turn ‘Twilight-pale’,” smiled Jenny Yap, the training manager, during the workshop. “You may look fairer, but if you use the [facial] Mask correctly, it’ll brighten and even out your skin tone.” Leave a thick layer on for 10 minutes, remove, reapply a thin layer, wake up radiant. Got it.
It could be the hour-long yoga, pranayama in the Crystal Cave and all. It could be the pool of Dr Fish nibbling at the dead on my feet. Or dining in Jeff’s Cellar, a cosy cavern fit for Bruce Wayne to brood and wed. Even if just for two days, L’Occitane helped us escape from our daily duties, to let off some steam like the morning mist which lifted off the geothermal hot spring lake high into the sky. Like its new release, I daresay it worked — I could feel my inner light glow.
